Full Game Reviews

Way back in 1997, I was a subscriber to the “PlayStation Underground.” Prior to Internet media blowing up, Sony tried to modernize the videogame fan magazine by mailing out a monthly PlayStation format disc to subscribers, containing a variety of articles, videos, and – most importantly – playable demos. It was in an issue of this experimental digital magazine that I first experienced the magic of “Tomba!” a Japanese 2D Platformer with tons of depth during an era in which clunky, ugly 3D Platformers were the order of the day. I had been OD-ing on RPGs in the PlayStation era, and was desperately thirsty for a 2D Platformer, a genre which had seemingly gone extinct, as a change of pace. When I played that demo of “Tomba!” in the “PlayStation Underground,” it wasn’t like giving a drink of wa...